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Life After Death/Issue 24
Andre and Dolph both stood up, but Ike gestured for them to sit back down. "Bart and I will handle this," he said. "Rachel, cover us, would you?" "Got it," Rachel said as she pulled a rifle off her back and aimed it at the figure. Bart and Ike both pulled out pistols from their holsters and ran toward the fence. They approached the figure, who was a tall, buff, indian man with a red and dark blue muscle shirt and jeans. He had blood on his left arm and was covered in sweat. "Who are you?" Ike asked. "What are you doing here?" "B-bandits," the main said with tears in his eyes. "They...they attacked...stole our stuff. T-they killed every-everyone...I saw some...some of your people..i-in the forest. F-followed them here..." "What's your name?" Bart asked. "K-Kumar." "Do you have any weapons on you?" Ike questioned. "J-just this empty p-pistol," Kumar said as he pulled a small revolver out of the side of his pants. "That it?" "Yes..." Ike and Bart holstered their weapons, and Ike turned and signalled Rachel to put her gun down. "Ev-everyone I know...dead. All m-my friends....my b-brother..." "How many of you were there?" Ike asked. "Six." "Come on," Bart said. "We'll get you some water and something to eat." "T-thank you." Bart and Ike walked with Kumar across the field toward the rest of their group. "Here, sit down here and we'll grab some water," Ike said as he gestured for Kumar to sit down by the fire in a semi-isolated area. Bart went into the RV and came back out with a bottle of water. "Here," he said as he handed it to Kumar. "Food should be ready in about half an hour." "Thank you, I a-appreciate it." Kumar said as he opened the bottle and took a sip. ---- Meanwhile, Ike and Rachel were talking to each other by the RV. "So, what's his story?" she asked him. "Bandits attacked him," he responded. "The same ones that attacked us?" "Probably, I mean, how many bandits can be in this area?" "Good point." "He said he lost his brother." "Oh, damn..." "Yeah, it's pretty shitty." "What are we going to do with him?" "The better question is, what are we going to do with the others? We still haven't decided what to do with them; whether they stay or go." "What do you think?" "Bart and Matt told me that the two they went with were friendly, and that their leader, Eric I think it was, saved Matt from some biters." "Really?" "Yeah." "Well, that Dolph guy still seems like trouble to me." "You know...Bart told me something about him." "What?" "Well...he lost his sister a while back, when they got attacked by that other group, I think." "And that's why he's acting like he is?" "I guess so." "Well...I lost my brother a few weeks ago...you don't see me acting like an asshole." "Some people don't handle stuff like that well, I guess he's one of them." "I guess that makes the situation a little better, but still." "Honestly, with what their leader did alone for Matt, I'm willing to trust them." "You're sure about that?" "I am." "Well, I trust your judgement...I guess they stay." "Alright, that just leaves Kumar." "Yeah...how are we going to deal with him?" "I guess we just give him a chance like we did with the others, you know, get a chance to know him." "Of course." "We could get him to help out a bit around here tomorrow. Maybe help wash some dishes or something, one of us could chat with him while he's doing them." "Sounds good. Well, I better go check on dinner. I don't trust Bart with it by himself." "Come on, give him a break." "Don't you remember when he burnt our last deer?" "Yeah, but that was weeks ago." "Once a lousy chef, always a lousy chef." The two chuckled and started to walk back to the fire. Kumar had finished his water and just stared at the ground, and the lively conversation from earlier had dulled down to very sparatic, quiet smalltalk amongst one another. ---- Once dinner had finished cooking, Rachel and Bart served everyone up a piece, including Kumar, who was very thankful for it. Once they finished, they all sat around the fire for a bit. Eventually, Ike and Rachel set up a few extra tents around the fire and they all went to sleep, except for Devon, who decided to stay out by the fire. As Emily got up to go to bed, she noticed him sitting there, and approached him. "Not going to sleep?" she asked. "Nah, I'm not really tired." "You should still try to get some rest, we had a long day today, it would do you some good." "I'll go to sleep soon, you don't need to worry about me." Emily sat down beside him. "Is something wrong?" "No...just...thinking about her." "That's what I thought..." Emily looked down at his hand. "How does your hand feel?" "Better. A lot better. Still hurts a bit, though. I think what Walden did helped a lot." "Walden...that's a name I haven't heard in a while." "Yeah. How's your neck?" "It's healed, it wasn't that deep of a cut. I think it's a scar now, I don't know." "That guy that did that...he was a fucking piece of shit...but I regret killing him." "You shouldn't, you did what you had to." "I didn't have to kill him, I had already cut his face open, it's not like he was a danger anymore." "He could have killed one of us once we ran off." "I doubt it...honestly, if I hadn't killed him...maybe Drake or Bill would still be here." "No, don't you dare think like that. Alvin was insane, he would have killed them no matter what. He wanted to kill all of us, hell, he probably still does." "Maybe...maybe not. I don't know. I still wish I hadn't killed him...it haunts me every night." "I know that feeling...looking back, I feel like shit for shooting that girl. But I had to, she shot Gregory and probably would have killed someone if I hadn't." "I guess so. It feels weird...knowing I killed someone. Half a year ago I was working a shitty job at a gas station trying to keep food on the table and a roof over my and Leslie's heads...I never would have thought it would end up like...like this." "Nobody did. The world changed, and so did we. There are dangerous people out there with no rules to keep them in line. We have to kill to survive now." "I know...it just doesn't feel right." "It isn't right, but THAT'S REALITY!" "I guess so..." The two sat in silence for a while, listening to the sound of the fire crackling. "Thanks," Devon said, breaking the silence. "For everything you've done for me." "What do you mean?" "You've been there for me ever since I ran into you guys, and you've been a great friend." Devon turned and looked at Emily. "Oh, of course. It's been great being your friend, too," she replied with a smile The two stopped talking and stared into each other's eyes. After a moment, they gradually started leaning toward each other, closed their eyes, and began to kiss. Credits * * * * * * * * Deaths *None Trivia *First appearance of .